About me
by aiupenn
Summary: Osamu manages to convince Ranpo to go on a completely platonic date on Valentine's Day. Or Ranpo and Osamu go to Cosmo World and ride the Cosmo Clock 21.


"You can't actually have plans for Valentine's Day," Kunikida said flatly.

Osamu lifted one lazy eyelid as he lounged in the chair and looked at his fuming partner. The amount of frustration on his face made it very difficult for him not to smile. "I do," Osamu said. Because he did.

"I swear to God, Dazai, if this is an excuse-"

"Mr. Dazai!" Ranpo chose exactly the right moment to speak up, which Osamu assumed wasn't an accident, "I don't wanna dress up!"

Quite reluctantly, Osamu let his eyelid slide closed once more, even though he wanted nothing more than to see the look on Kunikida's face. He was going to have to try harder than usual to keep up an air of nonchalance. "It's not fancy," Osamu said, perhaps a little louder than he needed to.

Kunikida sputtered, which was almost as good as seeing his face. "Mr. Ranpo, you can't be going out with Dazai," he said. It was a statement of fact, not a question. Too bad that he was wrong. Osamu had trouble holding back a smile at this too.

"He promised me candy," Ranpo said, in just the way that he could. It was that half entitled, half pouty tone that Dazai couldn't help but adore because he adored Ranpo.

Kunikida's voice got a little higher. "You bribed him to go on a date‽"

Now that Osamu would not stand for. He might've fabricated his reasoning a little, but Ranpo had agreed almost enthusiastically to the idea. BeforeOsamu had suggested the candy, as a matter of fact.

He let out a sigh, an almost honest sound, as he dragged his feet from the desk and stood. He finally met Kunikida's eyes. "It's not a romantic date," Osamu said, because as much as he wanted it to be, it wasn't. "I couldn't commit beautiful double suicide with him."

Kunikida rolls his eyes.

Osamu clapped him on the shoulder and put on an innocent face. "What? You don't have anyone to spend Valentine's Day with and drink away your loneliness?"

As expected, Kunikida blushes. "It-It's highly unnecessary," he stuttered out.

"Oh?" Osamu quirked a brow, "Tell your date I said 'hello' then." He made a jacking off motion with his hand just to see Kunikida's face turn from a mild rosey pink to bright cherry red.

He walks the short distance to Ranpo's desk and nudges the leg of his chair with his toe. "Where too?"

Ranpo doesn't hesitate with his answer, leaping to his feet and making a beeline for the door. "Cosmo World."

Osamu's footsteps stutter as he follows after. That was most certainly not the location he'd been expecting. An amusement park seemed like so much effort , something Ranpo tended to avoid. Osamu had only expected on a handful of trips to candy shops and cafés. Not that he was really complaining, because Cosmo World would be infinitely kinder to his wallet.

What did bother him was how date-ish it sounded. Going out for candy was one thing, but this? Osamu only just manages to keep his heart beat in check. Such a silly thing to get flustered over, but what could you do? Still, he chastises himself mentally. He was already pushing the boundaries as it was asking for a "platonic" date out of a man he most certainly felt no amount of platonic affection for, so he shouldn't try to make it anymore than it was.

"Cosmo World it is then." His answer comes a beat too late, and of course Ranpo notices.

He slows enough to walk side by side with Osamu, then suddenly wraps his arms around Osamu's right. Osamu very nearly loses control of his heart rate once more as Ranpo buries his cheek into Osamu's coat.

"It's too far," Ranpo whines.

"I could carry you~" Osamu teases.

Ranpo only hums in response, which is a much stranger reaction than the refusal Osamu had been expecting. Thankfully, he doesn't take him up for the offer either.

The walk is slower going than he'd anticipated. He would've liked to say it was because of the unseasonably warm 16°C weather, but in truth it was because he was lugging around a 5'6" full grown man who seemed like he was attempting to melt into Osamu's forearm.

"You're too slow," Ranpo says.

"You're slowing me down," Osamu points out.

"No. You're just slow."

Osamu sighs over-dramatically. "Mr. Kunikida's gonna get the wrong idea about us and then he's gonna chase away all the beautiful girls to commit double suicide with," he says, even though the very idea of having someone get the 'wrong idea' about them makes him just a little giddy.

Ranpo's eyes open a little, something that gives Osamu pause. He finds himself holding his breath, wanting to catch everything sound of what Ranpo would say next. "It was your idea," he says, his voice almost hurt.

Osamu blinks, unsure what brought on such a reaction. He lets his gaze roam Ranpo subtly, hoping for some answers. But there wasn't any. After a moment of puzzling over it, he just sighs again like he's the most put upon man in the world. "So it was."

Ranpo brightens up considerably once Cosmo World is in sight. Although his eyes are closed, he could almost certainly smell all the food he was about to make Osamu buy.

The place is crowded, unsurprisingly. Couples are milling about with barely any room to breathe and Osamu looks on with slight disdain.

But Ranpo doesn't hardly hesitate. He untangles himself from Osamu's arm and darts off into the throng, following his nose to some stand or another, likely. Osamu watches him go almost wistfully. Any onlooker with even half a brain cell could probably see how in love he looked, but for the first time in his life, Osamu found he didn't really care. In this moment, he's perfectly happy wearing his heart on his sleeve and adore Ranpo openly.

Not that he can indulge himself for long. Ranpo's gone and disappeared into the crowd, so Osamu rushes after him with as much casualty as he can manage. He finds him quickly enough. To no one's surprise, he's torturing a stall owner by making grabs at some cotton candy clenched in the vendor's fist.

Osamu smiles a little to himself and approaches. The vendor seems more than relieved to turn his attention away from Ranpo. "Can I help you, sir?" he asks.

"A bag of cotton candy. Pink," Osamu says, placing a hand on Ranpo's shoulder to get him to stop squirming.

The vendor hands over the bag and Osamu barely has time to turn over the paltry amount of yen before Ranpo snags it from him. He stuffs the fluff into his face immediately.

"Don't terrorize employees, Ranpo," Osamu coos with just the right amount of malice to hide how charmed he really is. Honestly. It can't be healthy to be so willing to overlook every flaw of a person.

Ranpo huffs through his mouthful, then quickly swallows. "You were taking too long."

Most of the evening is spent with Osamu chasing after Ranpo, stopping him from committing theft, and buying things he would never eat all in a crowded amusement park he would rather not be in. By all accounts, it should be a monstrously terrible evening. But it isn't. Because Ranpo is there.

Osamu keeps teetering closer and closer with every admiringly glance, every half-hidden sigh of content, to revealing the true reason behind his asking for such an outing. He always just manages to shove it all down when Ranpo looks his way, but every moment between are ones where Osamu slowly feels himself get dragged down into a feeling he's not terribly comfortable with.

It's not one he really understands. It's a weird sort of combination of love and hopelessness. On their own, they were unpleasant enough, but together Osamu has to focus to not let it show on his face.

He'd often wondered if there would be a time when he could give Ranpo these sorts of things-soft glances, dates, admiration-without having to hide it from the both of them. This event brought it in sharp focus that he didn't only think on it, he wanted it. Someday. It might've been a mistake to give himself a glimpse of what it could be like.

A fried pastry gets shoved under Osamu's nose all the sudden and he jerks back involuntarily as it brings him out of his thoughts. Ranpo looks at him a little expectantly.

Osamu shrugs and takes a bite, even though he has no taste for such things. Ranpo quickly moves on, which leaves him confused. One of Ranpo's many flaws is that he wasn't one to share. So what exactly had that been for?

To cheer him up, Osamu realizes belatedly.

His heart warms despite himself. There might be a chance for something more than this. Maybe. He catches up with Ranpo, throws out a joke, and gently leads him to the next vendor. It has to start somewhere. Why not here?

The park has become a sea of neon lights by the time Ranpo seems to be slowing down. The whole city was starting to come to a crawl, even on a holiday. Everything suddenly seems slower and calmer, and they can walk side by side without being pulled apart by another group.

Osamu's terribly aware of the fact that their hands brush every so often. Part of him wants to reach out to Ranpo and take a hold of him, as if that's a perfectly normal thing friends would do. But a larger part of him likes the casualty of this, too. There's no sudden jerk away or outcry from the soft touches, just quiet conversation as they head towards the ferris wheel.

"You look nervous," Osamu says with a teasing smile.

Ranpo purses his lips, then pulls the last piece of dango off the stick with his teeth. "Only a baby is scared of a ferris wheel," Ranpo says with his mouth full. He has a pout on his face again.

"Baby~"

Ranpo hesitates and Osamu realizes a beat too late what he'd just called him. Desperate to recover, he knocks him on top of the head. Like that solved it. Option B, then. Pay the operator and pretend it didn't happen.

When he turns back to Ranpo, his ears look a little pink and Osamu's eyes widen. Had he flustered the great Ranpo Edogawa? Because if so than this evening might've been the biggest success of his life. "If you're too scared, I'll take a beautiful lady with me instead," Osamu says, stepping into the gondola.

This seems to snap Ranpo out of it. He stomps over and, to his credit, doesn't seem the least bit phased by the swaying of the gondola as he seats himself across from Osamu with a huff.

"How have you lived in Yokohama all your life and not ridden Cosmo Clock 21? Never had someone as lovely as me to ride with?" Osamu shouldn't have asked the second question, but he could hardly help himself. If he managed to fluster Ranpo twice...

He doesn't get that sort of reaction, but what he gets is almost sweeter. Ranpo just shrugs and responds with a simple. "No."

Osamu sucks in a breath as his heart does a nervous flip. So Ranpo thought him 'lovely'. That was definitely info he was sorting away for later.

The ferris wheel lurches into motion, then stops again to let the next person board. Ranpo tries to subtly scoot closer to Osamu. "Is it always so slow?" he asks, trying to keep his voice unaffected, but failing.

"Maybe~ Think you can handle it?" Osamu teases even though what he wants is to pull Ranpo closer and calm him with soft words.

Ranpo scoffs. "Of course."

The ride proper starts after the next couple had boarded, and Ranpo quickly loses all nervousness. He tries to hide how enamored he is with seeing the whole city from so high up, but Osamu can still tell. He'd spent too long around Ranpo not to notice.

He excitedly points out the Port Mafia buildings, as if they don't take up the whole city skyline, and Osamu can't help but give him an encouraging smile. He finds the ADA's headquarters next, generally at least, and the a number of café and sweet shops.

The Cosmo Clock 21 comes to a stop at the top after five turns. Ranpo slides closer. "Is it broken?" he asks, his voice a little more vulnerable after having been so openly excited seconds before.

Osamu knows he should tease him and put some distance between the two of them, but he finds he can't. "Just waiting our turn to get off," Osamu says. It's always half fortunate, half unfortunate to be stuck at the top for disembarking. It's nice to have so long to look and see, but it's also a little unsettling.

He scoots himself closer to Ranpo using that excuse in his head, and peaks over the side. "If we really want to get off early, we could jump," Osamu says lightly, "You aim for the water, I aim for the cement."

Ranpo's hand suddenly brushes his own and Osamu looks up to meet Ranpo's eyes. They're closed, but his eyebrows are furrowed and Osamu wished he knew what it meant. It was always so infuriating when he couldn't tell what Ranpo was thinking, but it was also part of what made him so attractive to him. Everyone else could be so easy and predictable to read, but no Ranpo. Ranpo was an enigma.

He grasps Osamu's hand in his, tightly, and Osamu's heart skips a beat. His first reaction is to jerk out of the grasp for what it's doing to his vital signs, but he stops himself only barely. Who knew such a simple action was exactly what it took to ruin Osamu Dazai, former mafia executive?

"You still have to by me more candy," Ranpo said, and then he turned from the skyline with a huff. He tucks himself in the space between Osamu's waist and armpit, still wearing a petulant frown.

Osamu wills his heart to calm, then settled into this new position, definitely one not meant for "friends". The two of them stared out onto Yokohama's skyline, their breathing slowly becoming in sync. Osamu hadn't felt so content in his whole life. But he couldn't put it into words. Instead, he slowly let his head lower to rest on Ranpo's and sucked in a breath. "Hm... I suppose I do..."

* * *

Comments and critique are always appreciated.


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